Laramie City Council to Vote Whether to Enact Landfill Voucher Program

The Laramie City Council will vote tonight on whether to approve proposed improvements to the free landfill day offered to the community during their meeting Tuesday night.

In the past, the free landfill day coincided with Community Clean Up day and set aside one day where the landfill fees were waived for all city and county residents.

Councilor Pat Gabriel said Ordinance No. 1976 will enact a voucher system to increase resident’s access of the free landfill day.

“During the public comment period, we heard a lot of people saying they wanted more access to the landfill when they couldn’t necessarily make it on that one day,” Gabriel said. “It’s just a matter of convenience I think.”

In place of the one “free” day per year, the city will enact a voucher program that will allow residents to choose which day they use the no charge service. Residents who use the voucher can choose which day over a 30 day period they want to use the no-fee service.

The program would provide more access to the landfill for residents and also reduce the impact of the landfill by spreading out the no-charge service over 30 days. According to City Council documents, in the past, the landfill received over 1,000 vehicles on the no-charge days. The entrance of the landfill is only meant to handle about 300 per day. The influx of residents also caused issues with personnel overtime costs and safety hazards.

“It’s just I think something the city really wants to do and the council has talked about making it more convenient for people, because we want to keep the city as clean as possible,” Gabriel said. “If we have this convenience factor driven into the policy, I think it’s just going to make it easier for everybody to have access and still take care of that one free day.”

If the City Council approves the ordinance, the changes would go into effect this spring.